Delete xp files dos

I'm trying to remember how to delete all files, subdirectories, and subdirectory contents from a specific directory from a command prompt. We have a "catch all" folder for short-term file sharing and I want to delete the contents nightly, but not the folder itself, using a scheduled command procedure. RMDIR won't take a wildcard. Share Flag. All Answers. Collapse -. Unfortunately, the path changes regularly.

This is not the best idea This may help. The subdirectory names change daily. Then add the MD. Okay, that's getting closer. Add that and tweak to the needed security settings. Please see my reply to bwilmot. Back to Networks Forum. Start or search. The del command is used delete files from a computer.

Del is an internal command and is available in the following Microsoft operating systems. The delete command is a Recovery Console command and is available in the following Microsoft operating systems. Delete only operates in the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition , or the local installation sources. Del and delete do not support replaceable parameters wildcards. Note: Any files deleted with the del command cannot be recovered.

Be very careful where and how you use this command. Also, bonus tip — Command Prompt has basic autocompletion. So you could just type in del test , press the tab key, and Command Prompt will change it to del "Test File.

Sometimes files are marked as read only, and you'll see the following error when you try to use the del command:. Both commands work the same way, but let's stick with rmdir since it's a bit more expressive. Also, I'll use the terms directory and folder interchangeably for the rest of the tutorial.

Note: Any directories deleted with the rmdir command cannot be recovered. In this case I want to remove a directory named Subfolder, so I'll use the command rmdir Subfolder :. You could cd into the Subfolder directory and remove the file, then come back with cd.. And just imagine if there were a bunch of other nested files and directories!

Like with the del command, there's a helpful flag we can use to make things much faster and easier. There will probably be a prompt asking if you want to remove that directory.